


Your Affection

by telegraphical



Category: Persona 4, Persona Series
Genre: Acceptance, Angst, Death, Denial, Grief/Mourning, Multi, Self-Acceptance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-28
Updated: 2016-09-08
Packaged: 2018-04-11 19:03:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4448099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/telegraphical/pseuds/telegraphical
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Let's wait it out. Time fixes everything. </p><p>Right?</p><p>---</p><p>Seven years later, Souji Seta returns to Inaba.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Settle

**Author's Note:**

> Alright. Here we go. 
> 
> This story is actually a year and a half in the making. Originally, it was at least 12 short stories that had similar themes (I lost count). I've decided to combine them into a multi-chapter. I don't know how successful that will be, but I hope you enjoy it anyway. 
> 
> Now, I don't know about you, but I really like listening to music while I read, especially when it fits the tone. So, I've linked background songs in certain parts of the story if you'd like to listen. An (O) is the cue to listen, and an (X) is the cue to stop the music. It will primarily be Persona 4 background music, with some Catherine mixed in just because I find it really suits the vibe. Don't feel you have to though, it's just a suggestion.
> 
> 28 JULY 2015: Special for today: Apparently the site I used to loop the songs is rick rolling everyone today in honour of the anniversary of Never Gonna Give You Up, or something. If you have cookies enabled, it appears to only do it the once. You might want to keep reloading a link until it happens, then listen. Or not use the links. Ergh, I thought about not posting it but if I don't post it now I'll keep editing it until I die so... 
> 
> Anyway, without further ado, please enjoy "Your Affection".

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let's wait it out. Time fixes everything.
> 
> Right?
> 
> \---
> 
> Seven years later, Souji Seta returns to Inaba.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright. Here we go.
> 
> This story is actually a year and a half in the making. Originally, it was at least 12 short stories that had similar themes (I lost count). I've decided to combine them into a multi-chapter. I don't know how successful that will be, but I hope you enjoy it anyway.
> 
> Now, I don't know about you, but I really like listening to music while I read, especially when it fits the tone. So, I've linked background songs in certain parts of the story if you'd like to listen. An (O) is the cue to listen, and an (X) is the cue to stop the music. It will primarily be Persona 4 background music, with some Catherine mixed in just because I find it really suits the vibe. Don't feel you have to though, it's just a suggestion.
> 
> Thank you to the awesome kingchie (tumblr) and princenarukami (tumblr) for beta-ing this for me c:
> 
> 28 JULY 2015: Special for today: Apparently the site I used to loop the songs is rick rolling everyone today in honour of the anniversary of Never Gonna Give You Up, or something. If you have cookies enabled, it appears to only do it the once. You might want to keep reloading a link until it happens, then listen. Or not use the links. Ergh, I thought about not posting it but if I don't post it now I'll keep editing it until I die so...
> 
> Anyway, without further ado, please enjoy "Your Affection".

The dusted ground in front of his face was grey, Souji noted, as he pushed up to stand. His dress clothes were completely ruined, streaked with dirt. His bag was missing. He glanced around. That wasn’t good. It had his resume in it, along with several letters of recommendation. He couldn’t remember, had he left it on the train? It wasn’t like him to forget his things. His shoulder felt oddly light and floaty without it; he’d gone so long with the weight of it settled over his back. 

 

He had an interview today, with the Inaba school board. Well, if you could call the tiny office that administered education for the Inaba area a board, but that wasn’t the point. If he got one of the few teaching positions in Inaba then he would be able to stay. Yosuke had offered him a place to stay, everyone was slowly trickling back or had already gotten jobs in Inaba. He could be closer to his friends this way. Speaking of which, wasn't Yosuke supposed to meet him at the train station?

 

Souji squinted in the moonlight. His head felt like it was clogged with cotton. His mouth felt like he had been chewing stale gum. He ran his tongue over his teeth. It seemed overly bright. Like a flood light. Or a headlight. Exactly like the headlight on the train. He looked down at the tracks under his feet. The wind picked up and suddenly the light was unbearably intense, pricking sharply at the edges of his eyes. He looked up, squinting. The train was a shadow behind a dazzling ball of white light, barreling down the tracks straight for him-

 

"NO."   Souji woke, his limbs tangled in sweat soaked sheets. Sunlight had broken through his blinds, casting a sharp slit of light across his face. He winced, swallowing the thick saliva gathered in his throat from sleep.

 

BANG BANG BANG.

 

Someone was knocking on his bedroom door. "Who-" His voice cracked. Still not awake yet. He cleared his throat. 

 

"Souji? Uh, it's Yosuke. I heard you yell. Dude, is everything okay?"

 

Souji ran a hand through his hair. Static made it cling to his fingertips. "Yeah, I...yeah."   The door cracked open with a squeak.

 

Yosuke, blearily and tousled with sleep, was half visible through the gap. "Dude?"

 

"Mmmm." Souji let his hand drop, limp on the covers. Definitely not awake yet. "Yeah...nightmare."

 

 Yosuke frowned. "That sucks." 

 

"Yeah." Souji couldn't really think of any other way to respond. He pulled at his covers. The room was too hot. Yosuke fidgeted with the door, making it squeak again. Under different circumstances, Souji would’ve loved the opportunity to see Yosuke rumpled. Something about Yosuke’s sleep mussed hair just made him want to run his fingers through it, catching on the tangles and- _Not now._ Souji cleared his throat, glancing at the soft digital light of the clock on his dresser. It was half past seven

 

"A-anyway..." Yosuke stammered. Souji frowned. "I've got work so..." He pulled the door almost shut. "I'll see you downstairs?" 

 

"...yeah." Souji agreed.

 

The door shut with a soft click. Souji sighed, beginning the arduous process of untangling his limbs from the knot of blankets he had wrapped himself in, thrashing in his sleep. It must have been anxiety, causing him to have nightmares again. He had, in fact, had an interview with the school board a few days ago, and was waiting to hear back about a posting at Yasogami High School teaching history for all grades. He knew he had nothing to worry about, really. Yasogami had always struggled to keep a full slate of teachers, and his qualifications were more than adequate. And yet….

 

He hadn’t had nightmares for a couple of years now. Not on a regular basis, anyway. The first year after the murders was…hard. It hadn’t been what he wanted. The stress made it worse, his friends always at his fingertips, the tap of a text or a phone call away, but never in front of him for long. His visits, interrupted by shadows, SEES and more burdens from the key that burned in his pocket no matter how many times he discreetly left it on his dresser or not so discreetly threw it into the Samegawa, off the dorm rooftops, across the train tracks….

 

He shook his head, finally pulling his legs free of their blanket prison. It was summer, anyway. If he didn’t get the job, he still had time to get his affairs in order. It wouldn’t be a problem.

 

He’d make it work.

 

\---

 

[(O)](http://listenonrepeat.com/watch/?v=ig9RCFmjFpM&s=0&e=132#Persona_4_-_New_Days)

 

By the time Souji had finished showering and scrubbing the fear sweat off of his body, Yosuke had finished his breakfast of what looked like…oatmeal…and was frantically tying his shoes in the front hall. Souji frowned, picking up the bowl and spoon Yosuke had left on the table and placing them in the dirty rack of dishes still resting from last night, eyeing the burnt remains of whatever he’d made ( _oatmeal? Was it actually oatmeal??)_ and crossed over to the hall, leaning on the door frame that separated it from the kitchen. Yosuke had begun throwing his coat on, his keys jangling in his pocket. Souji glanced at the clock. Eight o'clock.

 

He would be late.

 

“Do you want me to give you a ride?” He asked, instinctively looking for the keys to his car. Yosuke glanced up at him, shoulders sinking as they lost some of their tension.

 

“I keep forgetting you actually have a car.” He mumbled sheepishly, fiddling with his jacket cuffs. He stood. “If you don’t mind, it’d really help me out.”

 

“Yeah it’s no problem.” Souji shuffled over to the table they’d crammed in the narrow hall. His keys were resting in bowl with change, transit tickets, and an assortment of other odds and ends.

 

Behind him, Yosuke stretched, his back making several cracking noises. “Ahhh, man,” Yosuke groaned, “I hate having the opening shift. Why do I have to have the keys anyway?”

 

Souji hunted for his shoes in the mess of Yosuke’s multiple pairs of colourful sneakers, determined not to let his eyes stray as his friend stretched out his arms with a satisfied sigh. “I thought you were happy that your dad was trusting you with running more of the store?” He questioned, pulling on his comparatively plain black loafers.

 

“Well, yeah…” Yosuke frowned as Souji pulled the closet open, rifling through for his jacket. “I just hate getting up early, ya know? Like, why can’t he trust me, but also let me sleep in?”

 

Souji smirked. “The best of both worlds?”

 

Yosuke winked. “You’ve got it, partner.”

 

Souji tilted his head, trying to hide the trace blush he felt spreading across his cheeks _. Stop. I’ve got to stop._ “Well, for now, let’s try to get you to work on time.”

 

Turning towards the door, Yosuke laughed. “Man, driving? No problem, I’ll be early at this rate.”

 

\---

 

Souji’s car was a hand-me-down from his Uncle, a white, beat up station wagon that had certainly seen better days. While usually it took an attempt or two (or five) to get it started, this morning it started on the first try, with a round of cheeky applause from Yosuke.

 

“Haha, that’s a first, isn’t it?” Yosuke snorted, contorting himself to place his feet up on the dashboard with a grin.

 

 _Get your feet off my dash._ Souji felt a warm wash of exasperated affection as he eyed Yosuke’s shoes with distaste. Yosuke seemed attuned to his disapproval, as he wiggled his feet twice before twisting to sit in his seat properly.

 

“Now, the question is, will the radio work.” Souji fiddled with the dials. It crackled with static, but picked up nothing. “I guess not.”

 

“You know, we have a couple of nice stereo sets now that actually aren’t that expensive.” Yosuke said casually.

 

“Are you trying to make commission off me now?” Souji asked slyly, pulling out into the street. 

 

“I don’t make commission anymore. I’m just saying we could totally fix your music problem.”

 

Souji laughed. “If I’m fixing anything on this thing, it’s the ignition first.”

 

“Fair enough.”

 

The rest of the ride passed in relative silence, the light early morning traffic giving Souji enough to concentrate on so his thoughts didn’t wander. Yosuke, on the other hand, seemed to lapse into a thoughtful silence, his face resting against the passenger window, illuminated by the morning sun.

 

It wasn’t until they hit traffic, only a few minutes away from Junes, that Yosuke spoke again.

 

 

[(O)](http://listenonrepeat.com/watch/?v=kXQS6eILn3c&s=0&e=59#Persona_4_The_Animation_%5BOST%5D_09.Recollections)

 

“Hey Souji…”

 

“Hmmmm?” Souji glanced over. Yosuke was still folded against the window, his hand hiding his expression.

 

“Do you…” Yosuke hesitated. “Do you ever think about the Midnight Channel?”

 

The key burned in his pocket. Souji frowned.

 

“Sometimes, why do you ask?”

 

The silence lasted a split second too long. “I dunno.” Yosuke said quickly, almost defensively. “Sometimes I wonder about it, you know? Do you ever like, wait like we used to at midnight, to see it?”

 

_A cold night at his Uncle’s last summer. His student teaching session had just ended. His heart pounded in his ears as the channel flickered on, grey gold static fizzling for a moment before fading to black. The voice ringing resolute in the back of his mind. I am thou. He’d never be free. It would never end. It didn’t matter where he went._

“A couple of times.” Souji answered carefully.

 

“It’s weird that it still comes on, huh? And only in Inaba. I’ve never been able to figure that one out.” Yosuke mused.

 

Souji could feel the beginning of a headache in his temples, a sharp pain spiking through his left eye. “Yeah…” There was construction on the road ahead. The engine chugged as he slowed, making his way around the potholes. A few street cops were out, directing traffic at the upcoming intersection, though there really wasn’t much traffic to direct. Souji vaguely wondered if Chie would be out today.

 

“You ever see anything?” Yosuke asked abruptly, making his fingers twitch on the steering wheel.

 

“…no.” He said, his heart jumping as the implications of the question filtered down through his brain. “Have you?!” He looked over in a panic _. If it was back, then-!_

 

Yosuke looked over at him in surprise. “Ah, no. I was just curious, was all.” Yosuke squinted. “Hey, are you okay?”

 

Souji focused back on the road, trying to calm his racing pulse. “Just tired. The heat’s getting to me.”

 

“Yeah, it’s been pretty hot this week.” Yosuke’s tone was purposefully light. “Is that why you haven’t been sleeping well?”

 

“No that’s not really-…uh….“ Souji started before he could stop himself and instantly felt a hot spike of regret.

 

“So do you normally have nightmares then?” Yosuke pounced on the space, his voice tight. Souji could see Yosuke’s gaze focused on him now in his peripherals.

 

He focused on the traffic, waiting to be waved through the intersection before responding.

 

“Sometimes I do.” He answered quietly. Yosuke turned away, back to the window. His stomach knotted. “I’m…sorry if I startled you this morning.”

 

“That’s not the problem.” Yosuke said sharply. “I just-“ He sighed.

 

Souji pulled off into the exit to Junes. “Yosuke?”

 

“Naoto told me that you worked with the Shadow Operatives for a while.” Yosuke’s tone was coloured with reluctance. “I wanted to ask you about it earlier but…”

 

Souji’s headache pounded behind his eyes, the pain in full swing. “Oh.”

 

“If you don’t want to talk about it-“

 

“No. It’s not that.” Souji grimaced. “I…” He pulled into the parking lot. Junes was still dark, waiting to be opened by the keys resting in Yosuke’s jacket pocket. He loosened his grip on the steering wheel, not realizing he’d been clutching it quite so tightly.

 

“Hey man, it’s cool.” Yosuke’s tone was strange, he couldn’t quite place it. Like he’d been trying to keep a level tone to hide…something…but wasn’t quite succeeding. “Seriously. But I wanted to let you know that I…you know…knew. And that it’s okay. And stuff. If you wanna talk. Or whatever.”

 

The warmth that spread in his chest at Yosuke’s concern was not quite enough to untangle the tight knots of unspoken emotion scrambling through him. For a moment he didn’t trust himself to speak. It wasn’t until he pulled the car to a stop in front of the main doors that he found his voice.

 

“I’ll…keep it in mind.” He could feel Yosuke’s eyes, sharp and attentive on him, but he couldn’t find it in himself to look over.

 

Yosuke opened the passenger door, clasping his shoulder briefly before slipping out of the car.

 

“Whenever you’re ready, partner.”

 

\---

 

[(O)](http://listenonrepeat.com/watch/?v=3W7qTPlbmU0#Catherine_OST_-_R30_s_Melancholy_~Extended~)

 

The house was quiet when he got back. In a pattern similar to the last couple of days, Souji quickly found himself with very little to do. He’d dusted and vacuumed yesterday, and the floors didn’t need to be cleaned again. He supposed he could try and organize Yosuke’s hopelessly cluttered kitchen cupboards, but he wasn’t sure if that would be crossing a line of some sort. He sighed, resolving to clear away the dishes and Yosuke’s mystery breakfast. _I seriously have to teach him some simple stuff to make in the morning, that looks really unappetizing. How has he lasted this long, eating like that?_

 

The pot was difficult to clean. Even over the short drive to Junes the contents had solidified and stuck to the bottom like cement. It was suitably distracting, alternatively soaking and scrubbing it until it shone. He didn’t have to think. The stove, he noticed, was also dirty, so he cleaned that too. And while he was at it, he noticed the inside of the oven was covered in crumbs and burn residue (he doubted Yosuke had ever cleaned it) so he scrubbed away at that. Then he noticed that the cupboards were dirty, just along the bottom where the mop couldn’t get at them, so he got on his hands and knees, rolled up his sleeves and scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed until those were all done. He didn’t notice that lunchtime had rolled around until he’d run out of cupboard to clean and his stomach complained loudly.

 

 _That’s right, I didn’t actually eat breakfast, did I?_ He frowned. It was just afternoon now. Yosuke didn’t get home until 4 so it would be 4 more hours until he had another distraction to keep him busy. He rummaged through the fridge, pulling out the ingredients for miso soup. As he pulled some onions out of the drawer he grabbed a couple of other vegetables that looked like they were starting to go off and tossed them in the garbage. _Does Yosuke ever go through these? Does Yosuke even eat vegetables?_ He sighed, settling himself into slicing the onions and some tofu (that he had bought himself, Yosuke wouldn’t touch the stuff).

 

It was suitably distracting for a while, but as he finished chopping the tofu into precise cubes and had a pot of soup set on a low simmer, he found his thoughts began to wander.

 

There were three unanswered emails in his inbox, and two phone messages he’d never responded to. Every time he thought of answering them his insides curdled, but leaving them, flagged and resting in his email with notes for the phone calls made him feel awful too.

 

_I understand that you’re experiencing some difficulties, which is to be expected. However, please know that you are an invaluable member of our team-_

_-any resources that you require will be made available to you. In fact, I would highly recommend that you make use of them-_

_-and please know that the door is always open to you, should you choose to return.-_

 

The timer for his soup beeped. He flinched.

 

Perhaps he would re-alphabetize his books. By author, this time.

 

\---

 

(X)

 

It was 3 hours, a reorganized bookshelf, clothes closet, and main closet (he couldn’t help himself, he hoped Yosuke didn’t mind) later, when he found himself in the easy bliss of preparing dinner. It was a little early, sure, but maybe Yosuke would be hungry when he got home? _I hope he likes it. I can’t remember if he likes cucumber or not._ Souji mused over ingredients as he lined up the few vegetables that weren’t moldy on the cutting board. He already had a pot boiling, and was just tossing some soba noodles in when he thought he heard a noise.

 

He paused, listening closely. No, maybe he imagined it. He waited another moment, just to be sure.  

 

[(O)](http://listenonrepeat.com/watch/?v=0d3i1g0oSAs#Persona_4_The_Animation_%5BOST%5D_03.The_strange_world)

 

Distantly, upstairs, he heard it. The sound of shattering glass.

 

Instantly, his mind began to race. _Something’s in the house. Something’s gotten in. Something’s gotten in and it’s all my fault-_

Instinctively he reached for the gun he no longer carried, the weapon and holster returned with his letter of resignation. Keeping his breath forcefully calm he fumbled with the kitchen drawer, pulling out the biggest knife he could see in the mess of cutlery inside. _A sushi knife, sharp. Shouldn’t be loose in the drawer. Probably not actually Yosuke’s._ He pushed those thoughts aside and glanced up the steps.

 

He couldn’t hear anything.

 

Swiftly he moved to the inner part of the staircase, craning his head to look up. Dust motes floated in the thin streams of sunlight filtering through the skylight.

 

 

He crept up the steps, winding around the landing, stepping slowly and trying not to let the wooden floorboards creak under his feet. The darkened hallway stretched out in front of him. The door to his bedroom was open, the way he had left it. It was dark.

 

 

He climbed the rest, flattening himself against the wall. He couldn’t see anything in his room. If the intruder was there, they were staying exceptionally still. He clutched the knife, holding it low across his chest. He peeked around the corner into the remainder of the hall.

 

The bathroom door was shut.

 

Yosuke’s bedroom door was shut.

 

A secondary crash sounded, followed by the crunch of glass underfoot. The end of the hall, he could pinpoint it now.

 

Yosuke’s room.

 

He swallowed.

 

He stepped into the hall, knife held out defensively. The sound of his own hitched breathing was painfully loud to his own ear. _It could be a burglar._ His mind raced. _Just a burglar, going after Yosuke’s CD collection or something._ A bubble of hysterical laughter built in his chest. _Or, more likely, it was…_

 

He’d reached the door. The movement inside was muffled. The intruder was…rifling through drawers? Maybe it was a burglar. Souji straightened from the hunched posture he’d unconsciously adopted. In any case… He clasped the door handle, firm in his left hand. The knife, in his right, low and ready to strike. _One smooth motion, the seconds that count. Three, two, one-!_

 

\---

 

[(O)](http://listenonrepeat.com/watch/?v=9eMNwIezQSg#Catherine_OST_-_03_Roux)

 

Yosuke stumbled as he got off the bus, the sudden rush of hot, humid air making his head spin. His sweaty palms stuck to the glossy paper of the education pamphlets his father had shoved on him before he left. General management certification course. What a mouthful. A formality, really; he knew how to run the store, but he couldn’t be promoted to a general manager unless he had some sort of education past high school. He scowled. Junes policy and all that.

 

He shoved the pamphlet into the pocket of the jacket he had draped over his arm as he walked. If he was promoted, his dad would be transferred. To a different store. Out of Inaba. He hadn’t lived at home for years, it was true, but it would be weird going to the same workplace and not reporting to his dad. Ever since he was a teenager his dad had not only been the authority figure at home; he’d also been his boss.

 

Not that he wasn’t ready. Just that it’d be weird. That was all. If there was a part of him that clawed at the inside of his ribcage at the thought of managing a Junes, of all things, well, he just wasn’t going to think about it.

 

 _Speaking of weird._ He rounded the corner with a sigh.  _I wonder if Souji will be home. I guess he doesn’t have much to do until he hears back from the school…_ He shook his head. If Souji wanted to talk to him, he would. If he didn’t… Yosuke didn’t know how to push the issue. Or even if he should. All he knew was that it had to be tough, to make a guy go from working with a super secret shadow organization to finishing his education degree so he could teach in a quiet, rural town. The important thing was that he try, at least, to get Souji to open up about this whole business.

 

As Yosuke trudged up the walkway to the house, he noted with mixed feelings that Souji’s car was parked on the street. _So I guess he is home, then._ He fiddled with the collar of his jacket, clutching it closer to his chest _. Man, Souji is usually the one starting these conversations. Hell if I know how to do it._ He sighed _. And this morning didn’t go so well. Maybe I should just leave him alone._

 

He was the only one who hadn’t tried yet, apparently. Naoto said even Teddie had tried to talk to him, according to Rise. He couldn’t help but feel like he was the last one in on this whole ‘get Souji to talk about the problems he may or may not have’ plan.

 

When he finished fishing his keys out of his coat and finally managed to slide the door open, the first thing he noticed was the humidity. He didn’t think it was possible, but it was more humid inside the house than outside, the air hitting him like a solid brick. Heat washed over him and he gagged. What the hell? He tossed his keys and jacket on the side table, not bothering with his shoes. It smelled like something was burning. “Souji?”

 

No answer.

 

Maybe he isn’t home. Yosuke stepped into the kitchen. His eyes were drawn to the stove. A pot sat on one of the elements, on and hot cherry red. Light spirals of smoke twisted up from its surface, as whatever was inside hissed angrily. “Shit!” He slid across the tile floor, flipping the burner off and peering at the pot. It wasn’t on fire, but whatever was inside (…noodles?) was stuck to the bottom, blackened. Gingerly, he grabbed a tea towel from the oven door handle and used it to pull the pot off the burner and onto a cool one. “Shit. What the hell?” He muttered with a flash of annoyance. _Did he just forget this was on? Could’ve burned the freaking house down._ He glanced around the kitchen.

 

“Hey, Souji!” He called a little louder.

 

No answer.

 

He looked over the countertop. A cookbook was propped open by a cutting board with a neat arrangement of vegetables ready to be cut. The cutlery drawer was left open, the mess of spoons, knives, forks, and chopsticks staring back at him. “Souji!” He yelled, glancing up the stairs. “You left the burner on! You burnt your…it’s burnt now.” He trailed off, looking around.

 

He could see the living room from the kitchen, and Souji wasn’t there. The couch didn’t even look rumpled, like it normally did when someone had been sitting in it for a bit. He must be upstairs.

 

“Souji?” He called up the stairs. He couldn’t hear anything. Did he leave? With the stove on? But his car was…

 

His heartbeat quickened as he climbed the stairs, two at a time.

 

Souji’s bedroom door was open, the room empty. The bathroom door was shut. He knocked. “Hey Souji, you in there?” No answer. Tentatively, he opened the door.

 

It was dark. He wasn’t there.

 

(X)

 

He looked down to his room.

 

The door was ajar.

 

 _That’s weird_. He always closed it. Old habit from hoping his mom wouldn’t come snooping and find his girlie mags. “Souji?” He crossed the hall to push the door open. _Why would he be in my-_

 

There was blood on the floor.

 

Slick streaks of it across the hardwood floor, like someone had bled and then dragged their foot through it. His room was trashed, like a tornado whipped through. His CDs had been knocked over, and the picture frames on his dresser were shattered on the floor. Several of his drawers were open, clothes and socks thrown out of them across the room. The window to his room was broken, the glass scattered out in tiny pieces.

 

At the epicenter of it all, was his TV, intact and slightly tilted on its stand.

 

  

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm an unrepentant sucker for cliffhangers.


	2. Puzzle Pieces

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let's wait it out. Time fixes everything.
> 
> Right?
> 
> \---
> 
> Seven years later, Souji Seta returns to Inaba.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took a lot longer than I hoped it would. I was going to go through and edit this a couple more times but I feel like if I do that I'll never post it, so here you go!
> 
> As before, links in an (O) are a cue to listen to the linked music, an (X) is a cue to stop, if you like that sort of thing. For most of this chapter it is atmospheric sounds because I felt that it fit the mood better.
> 
> Oh, and I forgot to give a shout out last chapter to kingchie (tumblr) and princenarukami (tumblr) for beta-ing chapter 1 and/or chapter 2. Thanks peeps it really helps so much!! c: 
> 
> I hope that you enjoy the new chapter!

[(O)](http://listenonrepeat.com/watch/?v=BLbHLCouDXM#Persona_4_Animation_-_Empty_smog_extend) 

The evening cicadas were screeching, clearly audible through the shattered remains of what used to be Yosuke’s bedroom window. A hot breeze was fluttering through the top of his blinds, causing it to hum in time with the racket outside. The air was humid, with the tang of a summer storm incoming. Sweat trickled down his neck as he felt his pockets. _Phone…I need…_ It was downstairs. In his jacket. His throat felt tight, his pulse thundering against the muscles in his neck. _I should go get it…I need to call…_

Call who? That was the question. His eyes were drawn to the TV in the centre of the room. Blood lead up to it in half moon arcs, pooling at the foot of the stand. There was a knife on the floor beside it, glinting in the sharp sunlight that cut across his bedroom. Everything around the TV was trashed…but the TV…

 

The TV was intact.

 

He didn’t need to be a detective to put two and two together.

 

Yosuke swallowed thickly. He stepped into the room, wary of the broken glass underfoot. Normally he could cross his room in a couple steps, but the minefield of glittering debris made that process agonizingly slow. By the time he reached the TV, he wasn’t sure what was louder: the cicadas, the blinds, or the ringing in his own ears.

 

His reflection, smudgy and terrified, stared back at him as he leaned in towards the screen. Up close he could see that it was dented, right at the top edge of the frame. He reached out to trace the edge. Barely catching the light, near the top, were a few fine, silver hairs. His hands shook.

 

 _It’s such a large screen._ He thought. _Not like the smaller ones Souji tends to prefer._ It occurred to him then that Souji might prefer smaller screens for a _reason._ He shuddered. This TV was old, a gift from his father from when they first moved to Inaba, years ago. Still, his preferences hadn’t really changed, in spite of everything…

 

He hovered his fingers over the surface, letting just the tips of his fingers graze the screen. As always, as it had from the day he awakened his persona seven years ago, it lit up, ripples dancing across the surface with a soft murmur. Jiraiya stirred in the back of his mind, and the sound surrounding him seemed to reach a fever pitch of screeching, buzzing, and ringing, right in time with the pounding of his racing heart.

 

Souji was in the TV. He was sure of it.

 

Yosuke let his hand sink in, up to his wrist. He hadn’t entered the TV world in years. Hadn’t had a reason to. _But now I need to…I need to…_ He wobbled, feet suddenly unsteady as his legs began to shake. He gripped the edge of the frame with his other hand for balance, gasping as his arm suddenly plunged in up to his elbow. He became aware of his own breathing, quick and shallow as his arm vibrated with the strange energy of the other world. Cold fear snaked down his spine. What would he find on the other side? Would it be the lovely, luscious and green world it changed into when the shadows were quiet? Or would it be that stark and bleak world, flooded with acrid fog and yellow light that gave him a headache even with the glasses Teddy had constructed for them? He thought of Souji, pale with his fingers tight on the steering wheel, brushing him off cordially while shadows hung behind his eyes. He thought of him alone, in an uncharted part of the world, barely able to see, barely able to think through the fog covering the bleak stretches of concrete, the empty buildings, the iron girders looming overhead.

 

He thought of himself, falling into the fog. Alone. He wasn’t even sure he knew how to use his persona still (though Jiraiya’s slightly irritated hum indicated that he probably did). Would it be like riding a bike? Or was it something he could lose without practice? He didn’t know for sure.

 

If he went in and got himself killed, would it really do Souji any good?

 

He gripped the edge, ripping his arm out of the TV. He took a couple of deep breaths through his nose, clenching his jaw shut. He couldn’t go in alone. He slammed his fist on the top of the set, whirling around. “Dammit…” He tried to weave his way through the glass quicker this time, gaining a few small cuts on the bottom of his feet for his trouble. There was a phone in the kitchen, usually on the small table he’d crammed into the space. He stumbled down the steps, ignoring the way his heart pulsed sickly somewhere in his throat.

 

At the bottom of the steps he slipped, his stomach jumping as the room abruptly spun, blackening the edges of his vision. _You’re panicking,_ he realized. He gripped the railing, taking a few steadying breaths. “Get a grip,” He murmured to himself, disgust unfurling in his gut as he wondered when he’d become so _useless._ The phone was there, resting on the table next to a few memo pads he’d remembered Souji scribbling in as he answered calls about his interview. He pulled out a chair with a shaky hand, wincing as the metal legs scraped across the linoleum. He sunk into it. He didn’t trust himself to stand anymore. With the weight off his feet his legs began to tremble. He gripped them with one hand, reaching for the phone with the other. “Get a fucking grip.” He hissed under his breath. His fingers danced across the number pad, trying to access the internal contact list. It took him three tries to bring up Naoto’s number, which did nothing for his nerves.

 

As the phone rang Yosuke glanced around the room, suddenly hyper aware of the noise beyond the low tones of the phone. The fridge was chugging, and his feet scratched at the floor. He didn’t know what happened to Souji, and the thought that whoever was responsible for the mess upstairs might still be here, hidden from him, echoed in his mind with a heavy dose of terror behind it. Yet he found himself unable to move now that he’d sat down, his feet twitchy but the rest of his body frozen in place, as if moving now would somehow draw the perpetrator’s attention. The phone was still ringing. She hadn’t picked up in the first three rings, which meant… “Dammit…” His voice came out weaker than he was expecting. He cleared his throat. “Pick up the phone.” He whispered into the receiver, as if Naoto would be able to hear him.

 

The answering machine responded with a cool monotone. “The customer you have dialed is unavailable right now, please leave a message after-“

 

He hung up, quickly pressing the redial button. Sometimes when she was working she wouldn’t answer the first time, but hopefully if he called again she would-

 

The phone clicked with a rush of static, and Naoto’s smooth voice came through. “Yosuke? I am working at the mo-“

 

He didn’t let her finish. “S-Souji’s inside the TV!” He gasped.

 

There was a lengthy pause on the other end of the line. “What do you mean?” She asked levelly.

 

Yosuke stood abruptly, the panic in his chest rising once again. “Exactly what I said I got home and there was blood everywhere and Souji’s-“

 

“Blood? Yosuke what’s-?”

 

“-gone! It was in my room with the TV and I think he went in it. Or was pushed in, I don’t know…” He trailed off as he paced the kitchen, panting as he realized dimly that he was descending into hysterics.

 

_Useless._

Naoto seemed to take a moment to process what he said. “Are you in the house?” She asked urgently.

 

Yosuke ran a hand through his hair. “I…yeah, I haven’t-“

 

“Are you alone? Is anyone there with you?”

 

“I…I didn’t see anyone when I was looking for Souji, but-“

 

“Okay, Yosuke, can you go out where people can see you? Are your neighbours home?” Naoto’s voice was that special kind of calm. Yosuke swallowed.

 

“They should be, but I don’t want them to-“

 

“Not a problem.” She interrupted, “Take the phone with you and go sit on your front step, please.”

 

“Naoto, I don’t think-“ He began.

 

“Please.” Her voice was firm. It wasn’t actually a request.

 

“…okay.”

 

 

[(O)](http://mynoise.net/NoiseMachines/windNoiseGenerator.php)

 

As he headed out of the house he stopped to shove his shoes half onto his feet, cradling the phone between his ear and shoulder. He winced as they grazed the fresh cuts left by the glass. He didn’t think any glass had actually embedded itself in his foot. He thought of checking, but the back of his neck prickled with the idea that there might still be _someone_ in the house. He grit his teeth and limped towards the door, suddenly aware of the sharp pricks of pain in his feet like he wasn’t before. He took two steps out onto the set of concrete stairs that led up to the door and sat, letting his shoes slip off the back of his heel. The door slammed shut behind him, pushed by the wind that had not only cooled slightly but was rapidly picking up speed. Yosuke looked up. Amidst the red and gold splatter of sunset, there were dark clouds on the horizon, large and threatening. There was sure to be a storm tonight.

 

 _It’s going to rain tonight._ He realized with anxiety.

“Are you outside?” Naoto’s voice brought him out of his thoughts. He nodded once, before remembering that she couldn’t see him.

 

“Yeah I’m outside.” He frowned as the wind rustled through the trees.. “Now what?” His head felt a little clearer, out in the fresh air.

 

Naoto seemed to notice the change in him. Her tone suddenly became more casual. “I’m going to call Chie-senpai. Hopefully she’ll be able to get there sooner so you can check through your house together, to make sure that it’s safe for you. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

 

Yosuke laughed weakly. “So I was right not to call the cops, then? Or does calling Chie count as calling the cops?”

 

Naoto chuckled, though Yosuke felt that it might have been for his benefit. “Not at all. If you think that this involves shadows, it would be best if we didn’t inform regular law enforcement. I’ll be getting in touch with Miss Kirijo regarding this matter as soon as possible.”

 

“Oh. Good.” Yosuke tried to swallow the animosity that sparked on Souji’s behalf. The Kirijo group had called the house twice and left a message. Souji seemed to be avoiding their calls, if his expression when he read the call display was any indication. _Yes, let’s involve the exact group of people that Souji fled to freaking Inaba to avoid._

 

Naoto paused. “The Kirijo group has the most qualified resources and people to handle this situation, Yosuke. It is possible that they know something about Souji’s situation that we do not.”

 

He looked at his knees, feeling chided. “I know that.” Sitting out here, he felt his courage return to him. His hands weren’t shaking anymore, at least. “You know Naoto, we could-“

 

“Do not go into the TV, Yosuke.” Naoto rebuked sharply before he could finish.

 

“Hey I wasn’t going to! I’m just saying that instead of-“ He began snarkily.

 

“I’m going to hang up the phone to call Chie-senpai now. I trust you’ll still be there when we arrive. We’ll sort this out then.”

 

“Naoto-“

 

“I’m worried too.” Her tone was kind. “We’ll get senpai out, I promise.”

 

“Yeah…” He trailed off, his sudden energy evaporating. The adrenaline that had been racing through his veins was gone, replaced with a heavy sense of fatigue. “I’ll wait for you.” It was a promise.

 

Naoto hummed once in affirmation before hanging up the phone, leaving him with the long dial tone of a disconnected call. He hung up, letting his arm drop, the phone dangling from his fingers. The wind was cooler now, and he could hear the distant rumble of thunder. There was a large tree in his neighbours yard. He watched the leaves rustle for a moment. He hoped Chie would get here before it started raining on him. He would probably go back inside anyway if she didn’t, he was sure that there wasn’t someone actually in the house.

 

 _Pretty_ sure, anyway.

 

His mind raced back to the blood on the floor. He wondered if it was Souji’s. There was a lot of it. He hoped it wasn’t. He knew Souji was in pretty good shape, even after leaving the “shadow operatives.” It was weird to think that someone could’ve overpowered him. He shivered. He might have imagined it, but he was sure that the sky spat a few errant raindrops right at his nose. It was getting colder.

 

His coat was just inside the door. He _could_ grab it.

 

Only later, much, _much_ later, would he admit to himself that his hands had begun to tremble again.

 

_Maybe I’d better wait until Chie gets here._

\---

[(O)](http://mynoise.net/NoiseMachines/thunderNoiseGenerator.php)

Yosuke only had to wait 20 minutes for Chie to arrive in her beat-up sedan (truly a rusty monstrosity if he ever saw one, but he’d never tell her that). Given that she was likely still on duty this surprised him. Not to say that he wasn’t grateful; it had begun to rain lightly, thunder rumbling in the distance. The top of his head was already damp, a few stray droplets sliding down his bangs and onto his nose. He shivered as Chie parked on the street, noticing with a tired sigh that one of her front lights was burnt out. _Some traffic cop._ He was regretting not having the balls to grab his jacket, gooseflesh prickling across his arms. It seemed stupid now that she was here. He hung his head as she tumbled out of the car, still in her uniform and slightly out of breath.

 

“Why didn’t you call me?” She shouted at him as she jogged up the driveway, an irritated but concerned scowl marring her face. He smiled defensively.

 

“Hey, Satonaka-san-“ He began.

 

“Don’t you ‘Satonaka-san’ me, you jerk!” She huffed, glancing at his house with one hand hovering near the holster on her hip. She looked back at him with a frown, taking in his appearance. Yosuke flushed as he became acutely aware of how pathetic he looked, dripping on his own front door step.

 

“Well, you look like crap.” She said bluntly, offering him a hand up. Her face softened as he took it, letting her haul him to his feet. “Let’s go check out your house, then we can figure out what happened to Souji.”     

 

Yosuke averted his eyes as she opened the front door. The hallway was the same as it was twenty minutes ago, if a little dimmer with the approaching storm. It didn’t seem so ominous now, with Chie here. _You’re an idiot. You didn’t even need her here why would someone hide in the house after they got what they wanted anyway…_ He glanced at Chie and opened his mouth to apologize, only to snap it shut when he realized she had drawn her gun.

 

“Wha- Chie!” He sputtered, jaw tense.

 

“Shh!” She hissed back at him, holding her gun firmly in both hands, the barrel pointed down. “Isn’t this what you called me here for?!”

 

“I didn’t-!” He started.

 

“Naoto thinks that they might still be here, so I’m gonna check!” She said impatiently, wrinkling her nose. “Or do you wanna wait until you’re microwaving ramen for some guy to pop out and-“

 

“Okay okay I get it!” He raised his arms defensively, eyeing her gun nervously. She seemed to be holding it the way he thought a gun should be held, but something about Chie being armed with that kind of weapon unnerved him. “Then what am I supposed to do?”

 

“Uuuhhhh…” Chie paused, her eyes widening in panic for a moment as she sorted out her thoughts.

_Great._ Yosuke bit his lip. His feelings must have shown on his face as Chie laughed nervously.

 

“Hey, hey, don’t worry. You stick behind me while I clear the first floor, and then, uh, then you can wait down here while I clear the second. Your house isn’t that big anyway, should be no problem.” Chie took one hand off her gun carefully to pat him awkwardly on the shoulder. His stomach sank.

 

 _Great. Now you’re stupid and pathetic._ “Yeah, sure.” He said lamely. _It’s not like this can get any worse._

 

Chie nodded, readjusting her grip on her gun before motioning for him to stand closely behind her. He crossed his arms and moved into place, wishing that he still had his knives. Or, more accurately, wishing that his knives were somewhere nearby and not in the bottom of his bedroom closet. He watched tensely as she pried the hallway closet open with one hand, aiming the gun at the interior with the other.

 

There was no one inside, but what was shocking about that was that he could immediately tell that no one was inside. Because it was so clean. All the jackets had been hung evenly, his shoes and Souji’s were all lined up neatly at the bottom. The top had been cleared of junk and his barbequing coals and tools were all stacked and in a semblance of order.

 

 _Souji must have been cleaning again._ Yosuke frowned. He wasn’t the cleanest person around when it came to his house, particularly in spaces like closets and drawers. The first week that Souji had moved in with him had been a little difficult to deal with. He had never lived with Souji before, so he had no idea if Souji had always been that particular with his living space. While Yosuke would have taken his time in unpacking his things, Souji had unpacked and organized all of his belongings the first day he arrived. When Yosuke left for work the next day, he’d come back to the house floors swept and vacuumed, the bathroom cleaned, and both the bathroom cabinets and the upper hall closet organized. Feeling more than a little guilty, he’d asked Souji about it, thinking that Souji maybe felt that he had to clean the house for him as a return for the favour of letting him stay. But…

 

_Souji crossed his arms, his hands tucked behind his elbows. It was an awkward gesture, and not one Yosuke could remember Souji ever doing in the entire time they’d been friends._

_“Does it bother you?” Souji’s tone was indiscernible._

_“Well…no…” It did, a little. Mostly it just confused him._

_Souji smiled. At first glance it seemed like his usual smile, the one with so much warmth it lit up his eyes. But there was something…off...about it. There was tension where there wasn’t before, and his gaze was…flat. It was unnerving._

_“I…don’t really have much to do during the day, while I’m waiting for the school board.” Souji admitted quietly. “It’s…easier when I have something to keep my hands busy.”_

He followed close behind Chie as she swept through the rest of the first floor, her head cocked as she listened for any movement other than their own. Her breathing was deep, even. There wasn’t a sign of nerves on her. He tightened his arms around himself.

 

_What the hell’s wrong with me?_

Once they had looped back to the kitchen, Chie gestured to the chair he’d pulled out earlier. “Wait here, I’ll be right back.” She didn’t wait to see if he’d listened to her, rushing to stealthily make her way up the stairs. _Not like that’s gonna help. If there’s somebody here I’m sure they already heard us._ Yosuke sighed, pacing in front of the stove. The pot with the burnt mess inside was still there, resting lopsided on the burner he’d placed it on. The inside was so blackened, he wasn’t sure if there was any point in saving it. The cutlery drawer was still wide open. He wondered if he should close it, or leave it. It probably counted as evidence of some kind. He left it alone.

 

 _Souji was probably standing right before it happened. Is this where he got attacked?_ He shuddered. _Or did it start upstairs? And why in my room?_

Naoto would figure it out. She had to. She always did.

 

Chie came stomping down the stairs, her gun holstered and her face very pale.

 

“ Did you see it?” He asked after a brief silence. The question itself was unnecessary, but he couldn’t think of any other way to start the conversation.

 

“Yeah…” She trailed into the kitchen, taking a seat at the table. She scowled, still looking upset. “Yeah, I saw.”

 

Yosuke took the set opposite her. “And-?”

 

“I think you’re right. I think he’s in the T.V.” She answered levelly. “We’ll have to wait and see what Naoto-kun says, but…I think you’re right.”

 

“…okay.” He wasn’t sure what else to say.

 

They both listened to the cooling system in the refrigerator chug for a moment.

 

“There’s no one up there, by the way.” Chie said finally. He snorted.

 

“Yeah, I figured.” He tapped his fingers on the table. “I…didn’t really think there’d be anybody, but Naoto was worried about it so…”

 

“Oh, yeah no problem. That’s what I’m here for.” Chie said quickly. Almost too quickly. He frowned.

 

A boom of thunder sounded, a lot closer than before. Rain began to hit the window in earnest. He scowled at the weather outside, his insides twisting as he remembered the rumour from their high school days.

 

_If you stare into the screen of a television alone at midnight…_

Would they see anything tonight?

 

“How soon until Naoto gets here?” Yosuke tried to sound casual. Not impatient. Definitely not worried.

 

“Uhm, she said it was gonna be about two hours before she could get here, but that was before I left, so like…” She glanced at the clock. “…an hour and a half? Twenty? Ish?”

 

He nodded. “Makes sense.” He studied his fingers as they tapped a random rhythm across the table.

 

Chie shuffled her feet. “She’ll be here soon. Then we can sort this out no problem.”

 

He shifted in his seat, wincing as a sharp prickle in his foot reminded him of the glass that may or may not be embedded in his flesh. He scooted the chair out, pulling his shoe off to take a look. There wasn’t any blood. That was a good sign. There were a few smaller grains of glass that he could see stuck to the bottom of his sock. He pulled his foot closer, carefully removing the sock and rolling it up in on itself.

 

“Whatcha doin’?” Chie scooted her chair closer, the metal legs screeching across the tiles. He winced.

 

“I stepped on some of the glass earlier.” He took a closer look at his foot. There was one large scratch that ran across his heel, and indents from were the smaller granules of glass had ground themselves into his callous.

 

“Oh. Did it puncture?” She questioned.

 

He lowered his foot to the ground and bent down to pull off his other shoe. “I don’t think so…”

 

“Okay,” Chie began tapping her feet on the tile. “That’s good…”

 

He sighed as he checked over his other foot for glass.

 

 It was going to be a long hour and a half. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end notes are being a little strange. If there is one below this one it is not meant to be there, just as a side note.


	3. Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for the wait. Just take this from me before I hide it again.

By the time Naoto arrived, the sun had given up. The sky was dark with storm clouds. Rain thrummed steadily on the roof and windowpanes. Every so often, an arc of lightning would brighten the room and Chie would tense, her hands clutched tightly around her phone as she tapped away at a game with colourful blocks. Any other time Yosuke would’ve enjoyed teasing her for the childhood fear that had never quite left her, but his limbs were heavy and his mind was slow. A pervasive numbness hung over him, settling over his bones and pushing him down into his seat. When a flash of headlights shone through the kitchen window, followed by two familiar figures running up his walkway, he almost couldn’t summon the energy to answer the door.

 

Almost.

 

The doorbell rang and he pushed himself to his feet. Each foot was like concrete, barely sliding across the tile. Chie looked up from her screen, her tongue still sticking out slightly from concentration. “Oh, that’s probably them, finally.” She remarked, an energetic bounce still present in her voice. A halfhearted spark of annoyance pinged across his chest before fizzling out. He just didn’t have the wherewithal to complain about her apparently endless reservoir of energy right now. He settled for passive aggressively walking down the very centre of the front hall to ensure he made it to the door first, Chie’s springy steps following close on his heels.

 

As he opened the door a humid breeze gusted through, the air heavy and cool as he took a steadying breath. The light spilling out from the doorway illuminated Naoto and Kanji, their shoulders hunched in near identical postures against the steady torrent of rain coming down. Naoto’s sharp gaze met his, her eyes dark and flinty.

 

“Hey.” He greeted weakly.

 

“Hello, Yosuke.” Naoto returned.

 

“Hey Yosuke! Move so they can get inside!” Chie admonished impatiently. She smacked his shoulder with an open palm. He shuffled to the side, shoving his hands deep into his pockets. As Kanji and Naoto moved into the hallway and shed their coats, Naoto’s eyes never left him. He scratched the back of his neck.

 

“How are you?” She asked, shuffling around Kanji in the narrow hallway. Chie pushed past both of them to get to Kanji, who was struggling with a couple of shopping bags he had hung over his wrists. Yosuke stared at them a moment before meeting Naoto’s gaze. A drop of water slid off the end of her nose.

 

“Good.” He swallowed. “Yeah…”

 

Naoto’s expression didn’t betray any emotion, and he looked away nervously. There were a couple of small puddles of water gathering on the floor where Naoto stood.

 

“Why don’t we get settled, and I can do a sweep of the house for you, okay?” Her tone was warm and he nodded. “Kanji brought Aiya. I’ll go through the kitchen then we can have some dinner.” Chie and Kanji moved past them, Chie patting his arm as they slipped into the kitchen. He hoped vaguely that Chie would tell Kanji what happened. He wasn’t sure how many more times he could repeat the tale himself. He didn’t even really want to say it again, but he knew that Naoto wouldn’t accept a second hand telling of the events if she could help it.

 

Once Naoto had hung her coat and shoved her shoes off to the side of the hall, he trailed behind her into the kitchen. Kanji and Chie had spread out the styrofoam bowls, still steaming, onto the clear kitchen table and had started breaking out the chop sticks and plastic spoons that had escaped into the bottom of the bags. Naoto zeroed in on the state of the kitchen counter, her eyes scanning the open drawer, the abandoned cutting board, and the burned remains sitting on the stove. The days heat had started to seep out of the room, but Yosuke could still smell the vague scent of burnt noodles.

 

“Did you move anything?” She queried, tugging on the edges of her gloves. Kanji and Chie stopped with their quiet chatter and turned to look at him. He didn’t think it was possible to feel more tired than he was, but it was like their gazes drained him.

 

“Just…just the pot. It was on and…burning…when I walked in.” He gestured at the pot with his elbow. “I moved it and shut the stove off. I looked around for Souji but he wasn’t here, which was…weird…” He trailed off.

 

Naoto hummed lightly and pulled her phone out of her pocket. She snapped a few photos of the stove and countertop, hesitating at the cutlery drawer. “You said that you moved the pot and turned off the stove. Did you move anything else?” She asked.

 

“No…” He glanced at Chie. “I mean, Chie and I sat at the table but we didn’t move anything else.”

 

“The drawer was open when you came in?”

 

“Yeah…” Yosuke frowned, the sharp beginnings of a headache settling behind his eyes. “Why? Is that-?”

 

“You shut off the stove and looked for Souji. What next?” Naoto cut him off, snapping a few pictures of the drawer and its contents.

 

“Uh…I looked in the living room and he wasn’t there, so I thought he must be upstairs but he didn’t answer when I called. I got kinda worried so I went upstairs to check…”

 

Naoto peeked around into the living room, her phone held loosely in her hands. “How did the living room look to you?”

 

“…what?” His headache pulsed.

 

“When you looked into the living room, what did you see?”

 

“I…just the living room. It just looked…you know…the way it does. It didn’t look like Souji had even been in there, so I went upstairs.” He could hear the impatience in his own voice. Naoto looked back at him and gave him a patient smile.

 

“You continued to search for Souji upstairs?” She asked carefully. He could feel that he was being…handled. He sighed.

 

“Yeah.”

 

There’s something off about his tone, because she looks at him for a long moment before looking up the stairs.

 

“What happened next?”

 

He tried to organize his thoughts, trying to calm the small bud of annoyance and _anger_ forming in his chest. Part of him, now that Kanji and Naoto were present, wanted to just go in the TV and check for Souji. The TV in his living room was the old display model; they knew for certain where it led. He’d bought it for exactly that reason. The crime scene didn’t really matter at this point, really. If they could get Souji _out_ of the TV then he could just tell them who attacked him. They couldn’t go to the cops with this kind of shit anyway.

 

“If you prefer, we can sit and eat a little dinner before we go over the details.” Naoto’s voice gained a bit of an awkward edge. He shook himself from his thoughts.

 

“No, sorry.” He said stiffly. “Uh, so, I went upstairs. I looked in his room ‘cuz the door was open but it was all dark and it didn’t look like he’d been in there. But then I noticed my door was ajar, which was weird because I…always close it, and I opened it and it was a mess. The window’s smashed and there’s just…there’s a mess.”

 

Naoto nodded. “Did you go inside?”

 

“Yeah.” He hunched his shoulders. “I kinda walked through it, got some glass stuck to me. Walked right up to the TV, then got out. Then I called you.”

 

“Understood, not a problem.” Naoto looked up the stairs. “Chie you did a sweep of the house when you got here, correct.”

 

Chie perked up at being addressed. “Yeah, I did. Nobody here.”

 

“Interesting.” Naoto’s eyes glazed over a bit. “I will go examine upstairs. Please start dinner without me.”

 

“You got it.” Kanji gave a thumbs up, pulling out a fistful of plastic cutlery.

 

As Naoto’s back disappeared into the darkened stairwell, Chie was at Yosuke’s side again. Her arm hovered just above his shoulders, guiding him back to one of the kitchen chairs. Kanji shoved a bowl full of steaming beef, sprouts, and noodles in front of him with a plastic spoon and chopsticks. Just barely, in the glistening broth, he could make out the distorted reflection of his face. He scowled.

 

“This looks great Kanji! I’m starving thanks so much for bringing food!” Chie said brightly, falling into the chair across from him once again.

 

“S’no problem. I figured you guy’s’d be hungry, wasn’t sure if we’d be able to cook anything so…” Kanji shrugged, looking down into his own bowl of food. Yosuke stared at Kanji’s shoes, narrow, faux leather dress shoes that he normally wore for work in the shop. Kanji’s toes were tapping. Yosuke wondered if it was a nervous habit, or if he was just restless, like Chie. He’d never taken note of it before.

 

But that didn’t mean anything. Not really. He wasn’t really as observant as he’d like to think he was. He’d learned that, since Souji came back into town.

 

_He stood in the kitchen, watching Souji make scrambled eggs. Yosuke was still in his pajamas, but Souji was fully dressed in a dress shirt and slacks, his hair lightly tousled and damp from the shower. Resting on the counter was a steaming cup of coffee in a mug he’d never seen before. It was white with a blue rim, little pawprints trailing down the side to meet a little grey cat, marching with its tail in the air._

_The mug certainly wasn’t Yosuke’s._

_“Hey.” Yosuke leaned against the wall, brushing some of his hair out of his face. “Early morning?”_

_Souji turned his head slightly at the sound before pushing the eggs around the pan. “Oh, not really.” His voice was soft. “It’s a bit of a habit.”_

_“Oh?” Yosuke smirked. “Dude, if I didn’t have to get up for work I’d be asleep until noon.”_

_Souji snorted. “That explains why whenever I call you early in the morning on a weekend you sound all weird.”_

_“Hey, a lot of the time I’m at least awake but I just don’t want to get out of bed.” Yosuke stopped, staring at the cat mug. “I gotta ask though, did you bring that mug with you or-?”_

_“Hmm?” Souji looked absentmindedly to his cup of coffee. “Oh, yeah. I brought that.” It might have been the sunlight streaming in from the window, but Yosuke thought that Souji’s eyes gained a bit of a distant look. “It was a gift from…from a co-worker of mine.” Souji frowned, lightly touching the rim of the cup._

_“Oh. But why cats?” Yosuke asked._

_Souji paused, raising an eyebrow at him. “Because I…like them?” He flipped the eggs onto a plate._

_Yosuke felt that he’d said something wrong. “Oh, I just…like, I didn’t know you had a cat…was all…”_

_“I’ve never had a cat. I just like them. I used to feed them down by the Samegawa River while I was here. Drove my Uncle insane but…” Souji shrugged. “Why do you ask?”_

_“Ah, I dunno, I just…I didn’t know I guess. I was curious.” Yosuke could feel his ears growing hot._

_“Don’t worry about it.” Souji turned away from him, cracking another egg in the pan. “The eggs there are for you, if you’d like them. There’s fruit in the fridge.”_

 

Sharp pain erupted across his shin as Chie kicked him under the table.

 

“OW!” Yosuke snapped, glaring up at her. “Chie, what the hell?!”

 

“Hey, Kanji just asked you something and you’re totally spacing out!” She chided him, but he could see the worry in her warm brown eyes. “You okay?”

 

“Yeah. Fine.” Yosuke grumbled, rubbing his leg. “Uh, sorry Kanji.”

 

“S’cool.” Kanji sipped some of his broth. “I was just sayin you should eat your beef before it gets cold.”

 

“Yeah. Sorry.” He picked up the chopsticks and paused. “…thanks. For getting food and stuff.”

 

“Hey man, it’s no problem.” Kanji leaned against the counter. “I hear you’re not that great a cook anyway.”

 

Yosuke smiled at the jab. “Hey, at least I’m not as bad as Chie.”

 

“HEY.” Chie pointed a chopstick at him, her mouth still full. “Thass roo-!!” She abruptly covered her mouth and swallowed, glaring. “That’s rude I eat way better than you!”

 

“Uh-huh. Yukiko-san was saying that she was looking through your work locker while waiting for you at the station, and that all you bring for lunch is instant ramen and pop.”

 

“I eat when I get home!”

 

“Suuuuuurrree.”

 

Chie scowled menacingly at him, and Yosuke felt the pull of a smile at the edge of his mouth. Truly, he hadn’t seen Chie in a while. Both of their schedules never seemed to match up anymore. As weirdly surreal and awful as the situation was, he _was_ happy to see her…even if it wasn’t the best of circumstances. The patterns of their friendship were easy and familiar…

 

_Remember…when friendship was so **easy.** Wasn’t that nice?_

 

His heart sank.

 

Chie had gone quiet. He looked up and her eyes were filled with that warm concern again.

 

Kanji cleared his throat. “Hey, do you think-“

 

Naoto flew down the stairs, brow furrowed in concentration. Slipping slightly on the tile in her socked feet she made a beeline for the front door-

 

“Naoto?!!”

 

“Huh?”

 

“Hey wait!”

 

-and disappeared into the pouring rain.

 

The three of them stared at the open door, which bounced lightly on its hinges. The roar of the rain was almost deafening. Water spattered the walls of the hall.

 

“She…wasn’t wearing shoes…” Kanji said slowly, putting his bowl down on the table.

 

Chie jolted to her feet, as if spurred by his words, sprinting out of the kitchen, into the hall, and out the door. “Hey, Naoto-kun!”

 

“Neither of them are.” Yosuke observed. His brain was too slow. “What-“

 

Kanji squared his shoulders and marched past him. Yosuke’s words died in his throat as abruptly, he found himself following Kanji out into the rain.

 

The droplets hit him so hard for a moment that he thought it must be hail. He shielded his eyes with one hand as his hair soaked instantly, his body shuddering with the sudden cold. “Chie! Naoto!” He could hear Naoto shouting about something. Kanji broke into a run around to the other side of the house, his socks sloshing in the wet grass. Yosuke grit his teeth and followed.

 

“What’s going on?!!”

 

The girls were barely visible in the dim, the light from Naoto’s phone flashing between them as she gestured frantically at his bedroom window.

 

“-so there’s no other possible explanation, other than it being the window! But how-?!” She shouted over the rain.

 

“Hey, what’s the problem!” Kanji shouted back.

 

“Naoto-kun’s looking for evidence!” Chie cupped her hands around her mouth to project her voice.

 

“In this?!!” Kanji yelped. “Dude, Naoto, I don’t think-!”

 

“There’s no way they could’ve gotten up there, no tree, nothing!” Naoto waved frantically, accidently shining the flashlight directly into Yosuke’s eyes.

 

“CAN WE DO THIS INSIDE?!” Yosuke’s voice was louder than he’d expected. His vision sparked with spots as his eyes fought to adjust to the darkness after the sharp brightness of the light.

 

Naoto’s arms fell by her sides. It was difficult for him to see, but she seemed to be glaring at his bedroom window.

 

“Do you really think we’re gonna find anything else?!” Kanji’s sharp tone sounded like he didn’t believe they would, but even in the hunched way he held himself against the torrents of rain, Yosuke could see that softness, the same softness he teased Kanji for through all their years of high school. If Naoto wanted to stay to investigate, Yosuke didn’t doubt that Kanji would stand there with her.

 

Naoto stared at the window for a long moment. Lightning cracked in the distance in an impressive fork, highlighting all their faces in that weird, blue light.

 

She shook her head, turning from the window. Chie took that as the cue to, sprinting back to the house, her legs wobbly on the wet grass. Yosuke followed close behind, rubbing at his eyes as bright and dark spots alternated in swirls across his vision.

 

As Chie dove back inside he nearly crashed into her back as she stopped just inside, her arms shaking and teeth chattering. He slipped backwards, clipping his head on the edge of the door. It wasn’t quite hard enough to add to the spots clouding his vision but it was enough to _hurt_ and he clutched his head, letting his back rest against the door, holding it wide open for when Kanji and Naoto slid in behind him.

 

Naoto was the most soaked out of all of them. Her dress shirt hung like paper around her arms and the vest looked shiny, soaked like a sponge. Her hair was plastered to her skull, eyes a bit wild as she looked at him in concern.

 

“Are you alright?” She chattered, a far sight from the collected, mature detective she had arrived at the door as.

 

“Uh, yeah, I hit my head.” His eyes were watering, he hoped that the rain disguised it. “ _Chie_ stopped a little fast.”

 

“Sorry! It’s freaky out there and well…” Chie trailed off with embarrassment, wrapping her arms around herself with a soft, watery squelch as rainwater was squeezed out of her uniform.

 

“I am sorry as well, I did not think that all the way through. I thought maybe if there was any evidence if I hurried maybe the rain would not have…” Naoto’s eyes flicked to the side.

 

Kanji hummed. “S’cool. Sucks that there wasn’t anything.”

 

“No,” Naoto frowned.

 

Yosuke closed the door, letting a sudden muted quiet fall in the hallway as Naoto mused. He let his back fall on the nearest wall, tucking his neck to his chest. He wasn’t sure if he genuinely didn’t care what her conclusions were at this point, or if he was just too tired to care. The point was, really, that Souji was in the TV.

 

_She has to check. Do the investigation thing. Just let her and then, tomorrow, **tomorrow** we can go get Souji out of there. We wouldn’t be able to go out in the TV now anyway…with this much rain wouldn’t there be fog…_

_FOG._

 

“We should watch the midnight channel.” He blurted out, suddenly looking up.

 

Three pairs of eyes regarded him blankly, the chatter he was only just barely aware of before stopping. Any other time, it would have been kinda funny, their bedraggled faces staring back at him, looking like a trio of drowned rats.

 

His head pulsed.

 

“You know…because he’s in the TV, right?” He finished lamely, his voice crackling.

 

Naoto nodded slowly. “Yes…that was my conclusion. In fact, I believe that both he and the perpetrator are likely inside. There is no evidence to suggest that the invader entered or left the house through conventional means.”

 

“…right.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “So…”

 

“So we’ll check it and see! And if he’s in there, we get him!” Chie clasped her fist. “If not-!” Her shoulders slumped a little. “Well…we’ll go find him!”

 

“I’ve already informed Kirijo-san of the situation, and they will arrive shortly to assist us.” Naoto said smoothly. “If he isn’t in the TV as we suspect, then it is likely they will have additional information regarding likely suspects.”

 

Yosuke scowled, letting his hand drop against the wall. “Right.”

 

“Hey, so, why don’t we eat our food, and then we’ll see if anything comes on the TV at midnight? I mean, there’s not much we can do ‘til then, right Naoto-kun?” Chie shifted her weight from foot to foot.

 

“Shouldn’t we, I dunno, find a change of clothes or something first?” Kanji piped up, gesturing to the puddle forming on the tile floor. “That might be hard though, so I dunno…”

 

Chie shivered, as if Kanji saying it aloud had reminded her of her chill. “Yeah, that’s probably a good idea…uhhhh…I have civies in my car…and Kanji you can probably wear some of my partner’s workout clothes, they’re still in my trunk…but…uhhh..”

 

The pair of them looked back at Yosuke and Naoto.

 

Naoto swallowed. “I have completed my analysis of your room, photos and samples have been taken.” She said hesitantly. “It should be more than sufficient for Kirijo-san’s investigators.” She turned to Yosuke, eyes flickering over his face. “If, that is alright with you?”

 

“…yeah…sure.” Yosuke’s voice cracked. He cleared his throat and looked at the floor.

 

“…okay, Kanji, why don’t we run out to my car and Naoto-kun can take Yosuke upstairs?” Chie’s voice wavered.

 

“Yes.” Naoto’s arm was suddenly around his. A firm tug on his forearm later, Yosuke found himself heading towards the stairs, Chie and Kanji’s chatter falling into the background.

 

The hall light at the top of the stairs was on, slightly flickering as the bulb neared burning out. The light in Souji’s room was also on, highlighting a crisply made bed and oddly clear shelf space. Down the hall…

 

_Down the hall…_

 

Yosuke dug his feet into the carpet, grasping Naoto’s wrist. “Actually…”

 

Naoto’s eyes were dark under the flickering light. Her mouth pulled at the corner as she seemed to guess what he was going to say.

 

“Why don’t we just raid Souji’s stuff, I mean…” Embarrassingly, his eyes began to burn. _Fuck, not in front of her._ He pinched the bridge of his nose. “I just…”

 

“Okay.” Naoto’s said quickly, her voice pitched high. “Yes, sure, of course.” She tugged him into Souji’s room.

 

Everything was so…tidy. It was cleaner in here now than from before, when Yosuke didn’t even have any guests over. His old desk had paper stacked on it neatly, a jar of pens placed precisely on the far right corner. Other than that, and Souji’s phone resting on the bedside table…

 

_Souji’s phone…_

 

He slipped out of Naoto’s grip as she went to the drawers and carefully opened the second, nodding as she found what appeared to be pyjamas and sweat pants. Yosuke leaned down and picked up the smooth, black device, pressing the home button. A small charm of a chain of beads hooked in the headphone jack at the top jingled softly as it fell over the back of his hand. The screen lit on a default background of rippling water. The phone was passcode locked, with four unread message previews spread across the screen.

 

_\--Junpei Iori--_

_So I hear ur in Inaba_

_\--Mitsuru Kirijo--_

_Information that might_

_\--Chie (_ _＾▽＾)--_

_Hey! Do you want to_

_\--Naoto_ _（￣＾￣）--_

_IF YOU ARE SAFE_

Yosuke frowned, trying to remember.

 

_He’d been sitting at the kitchen table, Souji’s phone resting in the centre._

 

_The phone chimed with a text message. Souji was digging through the cupboards, making a quick lunch before he left to meet Kanji and Yukiko for a movie in Okinawa. Yosuke wanted to go, but had an evening shift. He hadn’t seen Kanji or Yukiko for a while, so it burned a little bit. He was texting his **dad,** of all people, trying to control his irritation as he was interrogated about whether he’d applied for remedial math yet. _

_The phone chimed a second time and Yosuke looked up. Souji seemed preoccupied with trying to find a suitable knife, frowning as he dug through the cutlery drawer. Yosuke reached over and tapped the phone, craning his head to read the message._

_“Kanji says they’re going to be late.” He relayed. “Yukiko’s stuck answering a complaint.”_

_“Oh, okay, thanks for letting me know.” Souji answered absently, digging his arm further into the back of the drawer._

_“Uh, there’s sharp stuff back there you know.” Yosuke said, eyeing Souji’s hand with apprehension._

_Souji snorted. “Not sharp enough, that’s the problem. Don’t you have a whet stone?”_

_“A wah-?”_

_“Pffft-“ Souji retrieved a large knife, the largest one Yosuke had, out of the back. “It’s okay, don’t worry about it.” He set to chopping a pepper. “Could you text Kanji back for me, let him know that it’s okay?”_

_“Yeah sure,” Yosuke swallowed a defensive impulse and pulled the phone towards him, letting it skate across the surface of the table. “What’s your passcode?”_

_“It’s-“_

“5-6-8-3.” Yosuke murmured to himself as he punched the numbers in. The phone automatically opened on the message app.

 

Naoto appeared at his shoulder. “You know the passcode.” She stated.

 

“Yeah…” He said absently. He tapped on the message from Mitsuru Kirijo.

 

_Information that might interest you. Call at earliest convenience._

 

Not useful. It also made him a little _angry._ He closed it, opening the one from Junpei Iori. He recognized the name, but couldn’t put a face to it.

 

_So I hear ur in Inaba now_

This one was strange, as it was the only message from Junpei Iori that Souji seemed to have ever received. _That…or he cleared the history._

He ignored the messages from Chie and Naoto. She had wanted to get together for coffee and had sent him the same message earlier that day, and Naoto likely sent hers when she found out what happened. He passed the phone to Naoto, who gripped it eagerly. Absently, she passed Yosuke a pair of black sweats and a blue t-shirt with…was that a dolphin? He shook his head, turning to head into the bathroom to change. Maybe Naoto would find something…a clue as to who was responsible…and then…

 

He sighed, an acid helplessness bubbling in his throat.

 

\---

 

Once they had all changed and eaten, or, in Yosuke’s case, picked at, their food, they gathered in the dark living room to wait for the strike of midnight. Chie sprawled across the corner of the couch, now in a tank top and sweats, next to Naoto who sat straight backed with a pair of track pants rolled up at least four times and a t-shirt she was drowning in. Kanji paced the room in a tracksuit that smelled vaguely like stale cigarette smoke and…mustard… while Yosuke watched from his sprawled position on the floor, his head tipped back to lean against the edge of a couch cushion.

 

Naoto fiddled with Souji’s phone, the charm tinkling merrily as she glared at it darkly. Yosuke didn’t need to ask to know that she hadn’t found anything useful. From here he could see the time, four minutes to midnight, illuminated in the soft blue glow of the screen.

 

The rain had dwindled from a rough roar to a dull pitter-patter against the roof. The sky no longer rolled with thunder or flashed with lightning. It was too dark outside for Yosuke to see out the window, so he couldn’t tell if there was any fog or not. Usually it had to rain for a few days before it got foggy. But the air in the house was humid, thick with every breath, so maybe…

 

_2 minutes to go…_

 

Chie looked as though she was asleep but Yosuke could see the tension in her shoulders and in the way her foot tapped, restlessly, lightly jiggling the couch.

 

Naoto’s eyes moved up from the phone to stare at the blank screen of the television, the same, busted up display model from Junes that Yosuke had purchased once it went into sale stock.

 

_1 minute…_

Kanji stopped pacing. Chie sat up.

 

_30 seconds…_

 

Yosuke held his breath.

 

The room seemed to warp and twist with his focus, until all Yosuke could see was the faded, blurred impression of their bodies, reflected in the TV.

 

**_Midnight struck._ **

 

And the TV crackled to life.

 

At first it was nothing but a hazy yellow static, a faint hiss in the background. And indiscernible, shadowed shape moved in the background, and Yosuke felt as though someone was whispering in his ear, too low to be heard. He tilted his head. It sounded like…

 

The shadow shape broke into two and the sound changed pitch to a low warble. Voices. It sounded like a radio scanner, stuck between stations. Another silhouette stepped into frame, cleaner than the others. The two in the background began to move. _They’re…fighting?_

 

The shadow in the foreground morphed into something distinctly human. A body, from the jaw down, blurred from the static. It looked familiar.

 

Yosuke’s heart sank. _No._

As if the television knew he had figured it out, the camera panned up to the rest of the shadow’s face. Golden eyes seemed to stare directly out at him. The shadow’s lips moved, forming words but no sound came out.

 

Chie gasped. “Souji!”

 

The TV turned off with a soft click.

 

 

 

 

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Added music to this one, I'm gonna go back and add music to chapter 3 too. Same as before, O means click the link and listen, X means stop the music. 
> 
> Or don't if you're not feelin it. Up to you. 
> 
> Thanks for the love on this story guys, I do appreciate it.

[O](http://listenonrepeat.com/watch/?v=wLnYG3iW-RE#Catherine_OST_-_14_Hitsujigamine)

 

Chie was the first to speak.

 

“Ohhhh…gosh…he really is inside the TV!” She gasped, standing abruptly. “ _And_ he’s got a shadow?? I thought…” She trailed off, looking towards Naoto.

 

Naoto’s focus was still on the blank screen, her brows raised in surprise. “That is…odd.”

 

“Wasn’t expectin that.” Kanji muttered.

 

Yosuke clenched his fists tight on his knees. He wasn’t sure what he expected to see before, when they were waiting for the channel to come on, but it wasn’t _that._ They’d already all _faced_ their shadows, back in high school, so it shouldn’t even be _possible._

 

_Unless he’s been hiding stuff from us._

He remembered the first day that Souji returned to Inaba.

 

_He waited to meet Souji at the train station, scrolling through the music on his phone as he pulled on his headphones. He’d been listening to a lot of music lately with them on, and it was making his ears sore. The train pulled into the station and he looked up._

_The cars were mostly empty, so Yosuke could see Souji’s distinctive silver hair through the windows as he waited to disembark._

_Yosuke greeted his friend with a smile. Souji looked up, his lips twitching in a half smile, bag slung over one shoulder._

_“Hey, partner, it’s good to see ya!” Yosuke pulled his headphones off and let them hang around his neck._

_For just a moment, ever so brief, Souji’s eyes flickered and the smile dropped off his face. Yosuke’s heart skittered in concern, but before he could say anything Souji grasped his hand, smile back in place._

_“It’s good to be back.”_

He swallowed the acid gathering in his throat.

 

“So,” He spoke softly into the room that had gone quiet, everyone lost in thought. “What are we waiting for?”

 

Chie started. “Uh, well, Yosuke-“

 

“We know where he is now, and we know that’s he’s in trouble. And we know where-“ He gestured at the TV, “- _that_ goes, so all we have to do is go get him.”

 

“We don’t have a navigator.” Naoto said smoothly, confirming the very thought that was already running through Yosuke’s mind.

 

“SO?!” Yosuke stood and began to pace the length of the couch. “That shouldn’t matter, right?! Souji and I jumped in the first time and we didn’t have one either!!”

 

“That’s not true.” Chie bit her lip. “Remember, Teddie was there…”

 

“BUT WE DIDN’T KNOW THAT!” He huffed, stopping. He knew they were right. That they couldn’t go in.

 

“…dude-“ Kanji began.

 

“Souji… _always_ did whatever it took to get us out of trouble. We _have…_ to return the favour we can’t just leave him in there!” Yosuke’s voice wavered.

 

“Of course we’re not leaving him in there!” Chie asserted, crossing her arms. “But we gotta wait for a navigator first, right Naoto?”

 

Naoto nodded solemnly, glancing rapidly between the two of them. Yosuke felt his cheeks flush and his body deflate a little bit. He knew that. He _knew_ that.

 

_But…_

 

Kanji clapped a heavy hand on his shoulder. “Dude-“

 

Yosuke shrugged his shoulder away and turned to face the wall. He could feel Naoto’s sharp stare on his back. “Just leave me alone, Kanji.”

 

“But ya know we can’t-“

 

“I get it.” He fought to keep his voice flat.

 

Chie shuffled her feet.

 

Naoto spoke. “I have informed Rise of the situation. She will be here in two days time, her and Teddie both. If what we know of that world holds true, that should leave more than enough time to get him back.”

 

“Can anyone else get here faster?” Chie asked.

 

“I have informed Kirijo-san of the situation-“

 

Yosuke scoffed.

 

“-and she will be sending operatives of her own in a week’s time to conduct an investigation.”

 

_A…week?_ Yosuke’s face drained.

 

_A WEEK?_

He spun to face them, trembling. “You can’t be **_fucking_** serious.”

 

Naoto paused. “This is as quick as she is able, given recent circumstances that-“

 

“Naoto, don’t take this the wrong way, but **_I don’t give a shit.”_** He snarled. “She calls like she wants him back or whatever, but that’s the best they can do? A week? HE COULD BE DEAD IN A WEEK!” He took a breath, feeling lightheaded.

 

Naoto was holding both her hands out in front of her, trying to make a soothing gesture. “I do not have the full story-“

 

“I don’t think we _need_ it to see that’s _fucking **bullshit!!**_ ” Yosuke covered his face with his hands. His heart was beating so hard it _hurt._ “No wonder Souji _left. **Fuck.**_ ”

 

Naoto pursed her lips.

 

“Heeeeeey, I’ve got an idea.” Chie chimed in nervously. “Why don’t we sleep on it? I think we’d all be better if we just, you know, went to bed and thought it through.”  

 

Yosuke took a deep, shuddering breath and let it roll down his shoulders. It occurred to him that’d he’d been yelling, that it was late, and they were right anyway. The adrenaline was making him feel sick, he _still_ had a headache and…

 

… _and they were right. They were right they were right they were right._

He was suddenly aware that everyone’s eyes were on him. That Kanji hovered too near by his side as if he wanted to do something but didn’t know what. That Chie was still bouncing nervously, looking at him, then looking at Naoto, who was looking at him coolly, and now…

 

Well now he just felt like a piece of shit.

 

(X)[ O](http://listenonrepeat.com/watch/?v=8L_CgMfnVy0#Persona_4_Traumerei_Extended)

 

He sighed, letting his hands slide away from his face. “Sure. Whatever. Sorry.”

 

Kanji, Naoto, and Chie all glanced at each other. Kanji fidgeted.

 

“So…” Kanji said carefully, “I was thinkin’ you could come crash at my place. Figured it’d be…y’know…safer?” He hesitated. Yosuke’s shoulder’s tensed but he abruptly felt like he didn’t have any energy left to be angry. It wasn’t like he could stay in his own bed anyway. _Because-_

 

“Yeah.” He cleared his throat. “Thanks. I’m gonna go grab something from the cabinet though, my head’s killing me.”

 

Kanji shrugged. “Yeah, sure man, no problem.”

 

Yosuke turned to the bathroom. There had to be at least one bottle of painkillers that wasn’t expired in the medicine cabinet. At least…he hoped so.

 

“Chie and I will meet you at about lunchtime tomorrow to discuss further the matter at hand.” Naoto said smoothly, ignoring Chie’s murmur of surprise.

 

Yosuke dropped his head. “Yeah. Sorry, sounds good. I’m a little tired now, so…”

 

“Of course,” Naoto’s voice was soft again. “Please do try and get some rest.”

 

He nodded, walking out of the living room. He tried to ignore the swell of noise as he left. Chie began talking again, rapidly, and he wasn’t stupid enough to think it wasn’t at least partially about his…outburst. He reached around the wall, patting around for the light switch before stepping under the fluorescent bulb that lit his bathroom.

 

His reflection stared back at him. Face grey with blotches of tired red. Hair drowned with rainwater, sweat, and static, ends sticking up in all directions and already drying in a distinctly unflattering shape around his face. He blinked. He looked like hell.

 

He glanced away. The “medicine cabinet” was what he dubbed the two tiny shelves encased behind a small square mirror adjacent to the mirror above the sink. Why whoever designed the house decided that the bathroom needed a second mirror, he’d never know. He pulled open the door, the magnetic lock pulling once against his hand before giving in. He expected it to be barren except for a bottle of aspirin with questionable dates and a pack of alcohol swabs.

 

But Souji had been through here too.

 

Neat rows of over-the-counter medication, still in their packaging with labels helpfully turned outwards, stared back at him. On the lower shelf, his alcohol swabs had been supplemented with various types of bandages, including…yes…paw print bandaids.

 

Yosuke leaned heavily on the cabinet door, ignoring the annoyed screech of the hinges.

 

“Partner, what is wrong with you.” He muttered fondly. He reached in and took out what looked to be a boxed bottle of ibuprofen. He checked the label and slammed the door shut, the mirror trembling as the magnets held it firmly in place.

 

He took two with a sip of water from the tap, leaving the bottle on the lip of the sink.

 

With any luck, he wouldn’t need any more in the morning.

 

(X)

 

\---

 

Souji’s ears were ringing.

 

The world was a blurry blob of white and grey. His body rung with some kind of impact. He gripped the pavement lightly with his fingertips, not entirely sure which way was up. He spun while motionless, the crown of his head on an endless pivot, and he just wanted it to _stop…_

 

_I…fell?_

 

Something trickled off his shoulders as he tried to move. The pain that suddenly screamed through his head made him want to vomit.

 

Yeah, he fell.

 

Something crinkled under his palms. It hurt. Red bloomed and dripped down his hand. Blood. He groaned. It hurt. His mouth was dry, and he was thirsty. There was dust in his mouth. From the pavement. Dusty pavement. He swallowed.

 

_Where am I?_

He was shaking. That hurt too. He closed his eyes, trying to pull himself together. If only the world would stop spinning long enough from him to just get a grip!

 

A healing wave washed over him.

 

[O](http://listenonrepeat.com/watch/?v=GX7uxdc6YLg#Persona_4_Omen_Extended)

 

Souji’s mind abruptly cleared as he felt his legs, broken before, mend. His chest still stung from a cut, deep across his collar bone. He felt mends around his spine and his heart skipped a beat. He pushed himself up, wincing as tiny cuts on his hands scraped against the concrete.

 

He looked up into a yellow tinged sky. _How far…exactly, did I fall?_

He shuddered and looked around. The healing spell was strong, but not the strongest. He was still bleeding, and his head still throbbed like he’d been hit with a hammer. He hadn’t cast it, so that meant…

 

“Hello?” He called out, his voice raspy.

 

A heavy fog hung over the pavement, yellow tinged and acrid in its scent.

 

Fear sparked in his chest. “Hello??!”

 

Nothing.

 

_Knife. Knife._ He knew he had a knife before. He desperately scanned the pavement.

 

_A hand on his throat, the other on his wrist. Slammed against the TV and he dropped it with a clang. It joined the clutter on Yosuke’s floor._

Souji scrabbled to his feet, trying to breathe deeply. _Alright. No knife. Where am I?_

Blood dripped off his fingertips as he squinted at the sky. It flickered, as if it was overlaid with a layer of static. The fog, the fall, the pavement, how difficult it was to see…

 

He knew exactly where he was.

 

_Don’t panic._ He breathed, spinning around, looking for something, _anything,_ he could use as a weapon. _Stay calm._

 

He stopped. He couldn’t see anything but the fog. Fog, and flat pavement that all looked the same. He fiddled with the end of his sleeve, trying to ignore the way his arms were shaking.

 

He needed something to defend himself with.

 

He took a deep, focusing breath in through his nose.

 

_I might as well give it a shot._

Souji closed his eyes and reached into the spaces of his mind that held his personas. The warm, clamouring space that once was.

 

“Come, Izanagi.” He whispered. It seemed too loud in the quiet of the fog.

 

Nothing.

 

He exhaled shakily. Already, he could feel the beginnings of the distinctive headache the TV world caused without glasses, in addition to his other aches. He squinted ahead.

 

_Well, I guess I don’t have any other options._

 

He walked out into the fog.

 

It was difficult, to put one foot in front of the other. His legs throbbed with pain, and his wound dripped a sad trail of blood wherever he went. The fog listed and swirled, disorienting him in the yellow light and the flat pavement that all looked the _same._

He walked and tried to keep a straight path. A dark curl of thought wrapped itself around his mind.

 

_People never walk in a straight line, do they? Not without a concrete point of reference._

He wavered, throwing out his arms to steady himself.

 

_Remember, you’ve read about this. If you find yourself lost anywhere, you pick a point of reference, and walk towards it._

Left. Then right. It had to be a straight line.

 

_Everyone has a slight turning tendency._

The fog was thick and irritated his lungs. He coughed.

 

_People who wander without reference, through desert or icescapes, have been shown to have a large, circular path, leaning back towards the leg they favour._

It was hard to breathe.

 

_We could be walking in circles._

His legs hurt.

 

_Going back where we started._

Souji gripped his chest.

 

_No one knows we’re here._

_No weapons._

_No **persona.**_

_We’re done for._

He’d fallen to his knees, his hands tingling as though they were charged with electricity. The fog caressed his arms, his vision stretching, pulling towards an unseen point on the horizon. His breath was static in his ears.

 

_Fog and pavement. The TV world might as well be a desert._

He’d never been able to exactly place the smell of the TV world. Well, except for the fact that it was nauseating. It smelled vaguely of something burning, chemicals, or maybe rubber. Something unnatural, and it made him sick.

 

_People die in the desert, don’t they?_

_We could die here._

 

“Mm, no, not going to.” He breathed. “Something’s got to change…right?”

 

_…_

Souji waited a moment to catch his breath, his heart still pounding in his chest. There had to be a better way to do this. He shielded his eyes with his hand, as if that would make a difference, and looked hard into the fog. There had to be something he could walk towards. Some sort of structure, or building. Usually the TV world had _something._ Steel girders, strange, warped apartment complexes.

 

There was a shadow.

 

(X)

 

A small, round shadow, right ahead.

 

Souji grit his teeth.

 

That didn’t look like a building.

 

“….m…” A muffled sound came from its direction. Souji stood, fists clenched and shaking. If it was a shadow, he would at least put up a fight.

 

“…mmmr…” It came closer.

 

_It sounds…strange…_

 

It moved strange too, seeming to… _trot…_ towards him. The form became more distinct as it got closer. It was very small, with little points, a long curl of a tail, up in a hook-

 

“Meow?”

 

A cat emerged from the fog and sat a few feet from him.

 

Souji unclenched his fists. His instincts prickled with warning, but something about this…seemed… ** _familiar._**

****

“Hello.” He called out softly, taking a few paces forward.

 

“Mrrrrr.” The cat stretched, kneading her paws. Souji knelt down again, his legs wobbly with exhaustion. He put out his hand. The cat approached, a purr already warbling in her throat. He chittered a soft greeting. His mind prickled. He felt like he’d met this cat before, with her white fur, black eye patch-

 

“Patches.” He spoke without thinking.

 

The cat looked up at him with solemn grey eyes.

 

[O](http://listenonrepeat.com/watch/?v=TH0pEu5c__Q#Recollections_-_Persona_4_The_Animation)

_The cat looked up at him with solemn grey eyes. It was raining so hard that puddles had gathered under the balconies of the apartment where the cat, now soaked, had been trying to hide._

_Souji knelt in the puddle beside her, umbrella folded shut and dropped with a splash. His mom would yell at him for getting his uniform dirty. His assignment, which peeked out of the bag, the shiny star sticker exposed, was already getting wet._

_“I’m sorry.” He whispered, the rain almost overshadowing his words. “You’re all wet.”_

_The cat meowed at him feebly._

_He reached into his bag. He had leftover chicken teriyaki in his bento box. He opened it and the cat’s ears perked with interest._

_“Souji?” His mom called from one of the upper balconies._

_“Sorry mom! I dropped my books!” He called up. The cat had climbed into his lap and was investigating his food._

_“Well, hurry up! It’s raining outside!”_

_“Okay!”_

_The cat was eating ravenously out of the box. Souji paused._

_He placed the box in a shallow part of the puddle, stroking the cat softly from head to tail._

_The cat purred in a low rumble that warmed his chest._

_“Souji!”_

_“I’m coming! Sorry!” He shouted back._

_He turned to the cat with a whisper. “I’m gonna call you Patches. Goodbye!”_

_Patches became a regular fixture in his life for the three months that they lived there. He learned that Patches lived in the apartment complex across the street, and that the owners usually let her out to wander during the day. Sometimes he’d walk home and Patches would be waiting for him patiently under the balcony. Other days Patches would see him from across the street and march over, tail up in a happy hook. Souji took to keeping little pieces of his lunch in his pocket, just in case._

_But…two weeks before they were to move to a different city…_

_It was during rush hour. Which had never been a problem before. But one of the main roads was under construction, and many people were attempting to detour through his neighbourhood to avoid traffic._

_More cars than usual._

_Going faster than usual._

_(X)_

_P a t c h e s  s a w  h i m  a n d  w e n t  t o  c r o s s  t h e  s t r e e t-_

**_-headlights blared as the conductor leaned on the horn. He inhaled, eyes bright with the white light. He was blind._ **

****

**_“WATCH IT!” He was pushed. His body slammed into the pavement, taking his breath away-_ **

****

**_D O N ‘ T T H I N K A B O U T T H A T_ **

[O](http://listenonrepeat.com/watch/?v=0d3i1g0oSAs#Persona_4_The_Animation_%5BOST%5D_03.The_strange_world)

 

Souji snatched Patches up and pulled her into his arms. Patches murbled, sniffing the side of his neck in-between purrs.

 

“Nice kitty. Good kitty.” He rubbed her ears. “Such a good cat.”

 

“Funny, isn’t it,” said a voice.

 

Souji stiffened. He whipped his head around. All he could see was fog. Fog and pavement.

 

Izanagi’s absence rang in his skull. He swallowed.

 

Patches wriggled her way out of his arms. Souji stood. His legs wobbled, his feet unsteady. His felt sick, again. He bent over, his hands on his knees.

 

Patches wound herself around his legs. “Mmmmmrrowt?”

 

“Why are you here?” Souji rasped. His chest felt heavy. His childhood ached in his memory, all those afternoons _alone._ Grey blocks of apartments that all looked the same, but the people changed. The kids changed. The ones that wanted to be his friend never got the change, and well, after a point, most of them just didn’t, but-

 

Inaba was different. Chie, so friendly, personable. Eager to make new friends, she had spoken to him first and he’d never forgotten that. He’d never had someone speak to him on the first day of class like she did. No questions, just bright advice. Everything that happened on that day was a catalyst, and he’d ended up with the best friends he could’ve asked for. _More_ than he could have asked for.

 

He valued their friendship more than he could ever express.

 

“And how _a w f u l_ it would be, if anything ever happened to them.” The voice said.

 

_Behind him._

Souji yelped as he was struck on the back of the head. Instantly he saw stars, his face smashing into the ground. He heard, rather than felt, the crunch of his nose as it broke, blood trickling down his face and into his mouth. His vision dimmed at the edges.

 

Something kicked him and it all went fuzzy. His head hurt. Was he kicked in the head? His chest hurt too. He couldn’t cough. Maybe he got kicked in the chest.

 

Someone was speaking to him.

 

“…waited. But then…t’s…he…nt. …..aft…nt….u…ink?”

 

He tried to turn his head to look and instantly paid for it. The world went black for a moment, and barely came back in a haze of mostly white with light.

 

“Shhhhh.”

 

He became aware that the gasping, choked sounds of distress he was hearing were his own. There wasn’t enough room in his lungs. He was suffocating. He was being crushed and there was blood on his hands. If only this person would-

 

“Help.” The word escaped his lips. Thin. Wavering.

 

There were shoes. Shiny. Polished. He could see the reflection of white bands of light in them. Then knees, black pants. Pressed. White coat.

 

“Shhhh.”

 

There were hands on his shoulders and knees. He was rolled. He wanted to vomit. The light was too bright. He was flipped onto something softer. Hands supported his neck, firm, almost choking. He tried to breathe.

 

He was being lifted. There were bands across his chest and neck. He couldn’t move his head and his heart pounded.

 

A hand, gentle and cold, patted his upper arm. Spoke words soft but crystal clear, almost as if they had been projected right into his mind.

 

**“Don’t worry.”**

 

Even amongst all the other pain, he felt it. The prick in the crook of his arm. Ice flooded his veins. Abruptly he couldn’t move. He tensed his jaw, feeling like his throat was about to seal shut.

 

_Who?_

The hand gripped him harder. Breath tickled his ear as his vision greyed on the edges, his body floating upwards, away from him.

 

“ ** _We always take care of us.”_**

 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm an unrepentant sucker for cliffhangers.


End file.
